Yvon Godin

[Points of Order, February 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I understand what you are saying. I understand that the hon. member will never admit how she feels about workers.

[Points of Order, February 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, let us look at the official transcript for Friday, February 1, 2013—the Hansard, volume 146, no. 202, 1st session of the 41st Parliament.

That day, one of my colleagues said in the House:

...Service Canada staff are there to help claimants, not hunt them down like criminals.

This is what the Minister of Human Resources responded:

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the employment insurance program, it is very important to note that, once again, the NDP is supporting the bad guys.

Today, the minister misled the House by saying that she did not say that claimants were “bad guys”. So, I am asking her to tell the House the truth and to repeat what she said on Friday when she referred to workers as “bad guys”.

[Employment Insurance, February 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Acadians have already been deported once, and the Conservatives will not be deporting them a second time. It is not true that they are going to be punished because they live in resource regions that depend on seasonal work.

Let us get one thing straight: this reform punishes honest workers. And honest workers are not "bad guys", as the minister said. They are people who support their families. Even the Conservative members from the Atlantic provinces say that this reform is an insult to workers.

Why does the minister not get out of her office and go and see what is going on in the field? I invite her to come to Caraquet and to—

[Employment Insurance, January 31st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we are not surprised that the minister does not want to meet with people. She does not even think she implemented a reform.

The Conservatives are being unfair to seasonal workers in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. Even the deputy premier of New Brunswick, who is a Conservative, said that the termination of the pilot project is going to be bad for the province.

Benefits are running out, the spring gap is coming and our economy is going to suffer.

Will the minister change her mind before it is too late or will she force our workers to seek social assistance? Is this government not ashamed of stealing money from workers?

[Employment Insurance, January 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the people of Atlantic Canada are livid about the Conservatives’ employment insurance reforms.

Last weekend in New Brunswick, thousands of people demonstrated, calling on the Minister not to make decisions against their interests using money that does not belong to her and without consulting the workers.

Working people and their families are saying no to the Minister’s plan, because it is destroying the economy in the regions. If the Conservatives do not change these hastily concocted reforms, it is the workers who will pay the price.

When will the Conservatives start consulting communities that depend on seasonal work in Atlantic Canada and Quebec? It is a—

[Employment Insurance, December 10th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, for months now, we have been telling the minister that her changes to employment insurance are devastating for seasonal workers in Canada.

Workers from New Brunswick and from Newfoundland and Labrador were on the Hill today to demand immediate changes to the reform package, which penalizes seasonal workers.

Even though she refuses to consult with Canadians, perhaps she will listen to her colleague from Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, who is also asking for changes.

Will she change her mind about her reform package, as the New Democrats, as Canadian workers and as her own Conservative colleagues are asking her to do?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 30th, 2012]

With regard to the Governor in Council appointment process for the Privy Council Office from 2005 to 2013 inclusively: (a) how many people work at the Senior Personnel and Special Projects Secretariat, and what is the language profile for each of their positions; (b) how many appointments were made; (c) what is the list of all the positions granted through Governor in Council appointments and how many positions are on the list; (d) how many of the job postings include or included language requirements, (i) how are these requirements worded, (ii) what criteria were used to determine these requirements, (iii) are the language requirements for each of these positions recorded, (iv) were the federal institutions involved consulted before the language requirements were determined, (v) was the Treasury Board Secretariat consulted regarding the drafting of these postings, (vi) was the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages consulted regarding the drafting of these postings; (e) are there guidelines for the linguistic designation of positions as regards official languages and, if so, (i) what are they, (ii) who created them, (iii) are they systematically consulted before each appointment; (f) what is the proportion of appointments for each of the provinces and territories; (g) what is the proportion of anglophones and francophones who are appointed and how is this information recorded; and (h) is the proportion of bilingual anglophones and francophones on boards of directors appointed by the Governor in Council recorded and, if so, what is it?

[Search and Rescue, November 22nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives do not understand how big a problem the closure of the Quebec City search and rescue centre will cause.

They are endangering the lives of mariners and pleasure boaters and have no regard for French-language services. The proof is that there will be only one bilingual employee per shift at the centres in Halifax and Trenton. Just one.

What will happen if two francophones on two different boats have a problem at the same time? Will one of them be put on hold?

Will it take a tragedy for the Conservatives to realize that their plan is ridiculous? What are the members from Quebec doing to stand up for francophones and the French language—

[Employment Insurance, November 21st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, employment insurance reform is so messed up that even Conservative members, who are usually heartless, are now asking the minister for changes.

The hon. member for Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe has just realized that his constituents are not happy.

It is about time. We have been saying for six months that the reform does not reflect regional economic realities.

If the Conservatives had held consultations, this would not have happened.

Is the minister going to listen to her colleague from the back benches and support the NDP position now? The government's reform makes no sense.

[National Capital Act, November 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among all parties and I believe that if you seek it you would find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights be the committee for the purposes of section 533.1 of the Criminal Code.